If there was ever a band perfectly suited to the ‘and now for something completely different’ category, Ratatat is that band. They’re not conventional, they certainly don’t follow the verse-chorus-verse structure, they don’t sing, they mainly use machines to make their music and they give their songs very bizarre names. Therefore, their music is some of the most interesting, and perhaps challenging, to listen to, if pushing boundaries pushes your buttons.
Mainly using synths and various other knob-twiddling, lever-sliding, technical wizardry, LP3 features some downright bizarre tracks and some rather beautiful ones (Mi Viejo). In terms of hanging together as an album, well, it doesn’t. The tracks are simply to varied to give any sense of cohesion when played one after the other, but that said, there are no transitions which sound jarred or the tracks seem to naturally flow into the next.
The album is almost all encompassing, from tribal drumming, to flutters of piano, to full on electronica, and sometimes all three on one track. ‘Mirando’ seems to be simply a stream of consciousness the way it meanders, and changes from guitar solos to synth riffs, and when track fades away it gives the sense that, although you can’t hear it, it’s still playing somewhere. ‘Shemp’, in contrast, is far more up-tempo, and features sounds last heard in laserquests and fairgrounds.
‘Dura’, however, lets the album down. The harpsichord and r n b bass lines simply don’t work together, and it sounds like someone’s going to start rapping over the inharmonious sounds at any moment. Thankfully it doesn’t happen, but this track is a clash of styles that fails miserably.
At 13 tracks long, LP3 does begin to become a little over-stretched toward the end. But plough through to track 12, and a treat awaits. ‘Gipsy Threat’ is a dark, uneasy track that has a galloping bass, pings and zaps, and then, as simply gallops off, short but sharp.
Something entirely different indeed – the band, the album, the tunes. It may not be a regular feature on the CD player, but once in a while and your outlook on music will be totally refreshed.
80%
Links
Ratatat [myspace]
mp3:> Ratatat – Mirando
Related posts
I’ve heard the album and I didn’t like it (too many things mixed together to make it an album) as opposed to their previous two releases. And Gipsy Threat is one of the worst songs from the album for me..but this is perhaps just personal taste.
However, I’m quite confused with your review. You say that the tracks don’t “hang together as an album”, that it “becomes a little over-stretched” and that “it may not be a regular feature on the CD player” and mark it as 80%!!!